Syria chemical weapons: 'Progress on inspections'

Experts drove back to their hotel in Damascus after talks with Syrian officials

A team given the job of eliminating Syria's chemical weapons says it has made "encouraging initial progress" after talks with government officials.

UN-backed experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said Syrian documents handed over on Wednesday "looked promising".

The team said analysis of technical diagrams would be necessary and "more questions remain to be answered".

Onsite inspections and arms disabling are scheduled to start next week.

The timetable is dependent on the outcome of preparatory talks with Syrian experts which began on Wednesday, a statement issued by the UN in New York said.

Ghouta attack

The experts said they wanted to verify the information handed over by the Syrian government. Their next stated priority was to ensure the inspection teams' safety and security.

UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said: "The technical experts need to study everything they are given very closely.

"There is clearly... good cooperation with the Syrian authorities at the expert level to try to understand the material provided to the advance team from the UN and OPCW."

Syria's chemical weapons

Syria believed to possess more than 1,000 tonnes of chemical agents and pre-cursor chemicals, including blister agent, sulphur mustard, and sarin nerve agent; also thought to have produced most potent nerve agent, VX

US believes Syria's arsenal can be "delivered by aircraft, ballistic missile, and artillery rockets"

Syria acceded to Chemical Weapons Convention on 14 September; it signed Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention in 1972 but never ratified